BILL NUMBER: AB 771	CHAPTERED  09/27/99

	CHAPTER   489
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 27, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 3, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 24, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 30, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Briggs
   (Principal coauthor:  Senator Peace)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Aanestad, Battin, Campbell,
Dickerson, House, Leach, Oller, Robert Pacheco, Runner, and Zettel)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Johannessen and Knight)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 1808, 1810, 12800.5, and 13005.5 of the
Vehicle Code, relating to the Department of Motor Vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 771, Briggs.  Vehicles:  driver's licenses:  identification
cards:  photographs and physical characteristics.
   Under existing law, a driver's license or identification card is
required to bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the
licensee or applicant and other information concerning the licensee
or applicant, including information pertaining to the licensee's or
applicant's physical characteristics.  The Department of Motor
Vehicles is authorized to sell information from its records, with
specified exceptions.
   This bill would prohibit the department from distributing or
selling, unless requested by the licensee or applicant, the licensee'
s or applicant's picture or photograph or any information pertaining
to the licensee's or applicant's physical characteristics to any
private individual, other than the licensee or applicant, or to any
firm, copartnership, association, or corporation, except as
specified.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1808 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   1808.  (a) Except where a specific provision of law prohibits the
disclosure of records or information or provides for confidentiality,
all records of the department relating to the registration of
vehicles, other information contained on an application for a driver'
s license, abstracts of convictions, and abstracts of accident
reports required to be sent to the department in Sacramento, except
for abstracts of accidents where, in the opinion of a reporting
officer, another individual was at fault, shall be open to public
inspection during office hours.  All abstracts of accident reports
shall be available to law enforcement agencies and courts of
competent jurisdiction.
   (b) The department shall make available or disclose abstracts of
convictions and abstracts of accident reports required to be sent to
the department in Sacramento, as described in subdivision (a), if the
date of the occurrence is not later than the following:
   (1) Seven years for any violation designated as two points
pursuant to Section 12810.
   (2) Three years for accidents and all other violations.
   (c) The department shall make available or disclose suspensions
and revocations of the driving privilege while the suspension or
revocation is in effect and for three years following termination of
the action or reinstatement of the privilege, except that drivers
license suspension actions taken pursuant to Sections 13202.6 and
13202.7, or Section 256 or 11350.6 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code shall be disclosed only during the actual time period in which
the suspension is in effect.
   (d) The department shall not make available or disclose any
suspension or revocation that has been judicially set aside or
stayed.
   (e) The department shall not make available or disclose personal
information about any person unless the disclosure is in compliance
with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 2721
et seq.).  However, any disclosure is subject to the prohibition in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 12800.5.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1810 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   1810.  (a) Except as provided in Sections 1806.5, 1808.2, 1808.4,
1808.5, 1808.7, 1808.8, and paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 12800.5, the department may permit inspection of, or sell, or
both, information from its records concerning the registration of
any vehicle or information from the files of drivers' licenses at a
charge sufficient to pay the actual cost to the department for
providing the inspection or sale of the information, including, but
not limited to, costs incurred by the department in carrying out
subdivision (b), with the charge for the information to be determined
by the director.  This section does not apply to statistical
information of the type previously compiled and distributed by the
department.
   (b) (1) With respect to the inspection or sale of information
concerning the registration of any vehicle or of information from the
files of drivers' licenses, the department shall, by regulation,
establish administrative procedures under which any person making a
request for that information shall be required to identify himself or
herself and state the reason for making the request.  The procedures
shall provide for the verification of the name and address of the
person making a request for the information, and the department may
require the person to produce that information as it determines is
necessary to ensure that the name and address of the person is the
true name and address.  The procedures may provide for a 10-day delay
in the release of the requested information.  The procedures shall
also provide for notification to the person to whom the information
primarily relates, as to what information was provided and to whom it
was provided.  The department shall, by regulation, establish a
reasonable period of time for which a record of all the foregoing
shall be maintained.
   (2) The procedures required by this subdivision do not apply to
any governmental entity, any person who has applied for and has been
issued a requester code by the department, or any court of competent
jurisdiction.
   (c) With respect to the inspection or sale of information from the
files of drivers' licenses, the department may require both the full
name of the driver and either the driver's license number or date of
birth as identifying points of the record, except that the
department may disclose a record without two identifying points if
the department determines that the public interest in disclosure
outweighs the public interest in personal privacy.
   (d) With respect to the inspection or sale of information from the
files of drivers' licenses, certificates of ownership, and
registration cards, the department shall not, for a fee or otherwise,
  allow copying by the public.
  SEC. 3.  Section 12800.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   12800.5.  (a) (1) A license shall bear a fullface engraved picture
or photograph of the licensee.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department
shall not, unless requested by the licensee, distribute or sell the
licensee's picture or photograph or any information pertaining to the
licensee's physical characteristics to any private individual, other
than the licensee, or to any firm, copartnership, association, or
corporation.  This paragraph does not apply to any private business
entity that contracts with the department for the production of
driver's licenses and identification cards, if the contract prohibits
the unauthorized use and disclosure of the information.
   (b) A license, including a temporary license issued pursuant to
Section 12506, shall bear the following notice:  "This license is
issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle; it does not establish
eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits."
   (c) The department may demand proof of age prior to the issuance
of a license.
  SEC. 4.  Section 13005.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   13005.5.  (a) An identification card issued to any person shall
bear a fullface engraved picture or photograph of the person.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department
shall not, unless requested by the applicant,  distribute or sell the
applicant's picture or photograph or any information pertaining to
the applicant's physical characteristics to any private individual,
other than the applicant, or to any firm, copartnership, association,
or corporation.  This subdivision does not apply to any private
business entity that contracts with the department for the production
of driver's licenses and identification cards, if the contract
prohibits the unauthorized use and disclosure of the information.
